Message-ID: <01BE4446.3557D260@134.vita.org> Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 07:26:28 -0500 From: Gary Garriott <mailto:garyg@VITA.ORG> Subject: FW: Help for Sierra Leone To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
-----Original Message----- From: Dinsie B. Williams [SMTP:mailto:Dinsie.B.Williams@Dartmouth.EDU] Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 9:57 PM To: mailto:karenlwil@aol.com; kateamara@yahoo.com; ka128@columbia.edu; ruscittoa@logica.com; arokullo@mtholyoke.edu; cliu@n wscorp.com; mailto:Nishad.Chande@us.schroders.com; eferrell@plymouth.com; fjkam@stanford.edu; garyg@vita.org; josephda@microsof .com; mailto:jrivers@eecs.umich.edu; Kathryn_E_Miller@monitor.com; kjg161@psu.edu; ltam@northernforest.org; lynne.campbell@hale orr.com; peter de la rosa; mailto:Mayu.T.Sekiguchi.98@Alum.Dartmouth.ORG Subject: Help for Sierra LeonePls feel free to forward all or part of this message. Dinsie ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 19, 1999
Dear Friend:
There is a holocaust taking place in Sierra Leone, West Africa but many people do not know about it. Presently, law-abiding citizens are barricaded in their homes with out food, water, electricity, and information on the status quo.
In May 1997, after several years of carnage, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) guerillas displaced the democratically elected government. In March 1998, the deposed President was re-instated with the assistance of ECOMOG, the official peace keeping force of the Economic Committee of West African States (ECOWAS). At the end of the year, the guerillas intensified their massacres when their leader Foday Sankoh was charged in court with treason. The guerillas re-entered the capital, Freetown on January 5, 1999 and succeeded in paralyzing the nation. They have unleashed a macabre campaign of terror including the raping of women and children, slaughtering of civilians, hacking off limbs and burning out eyes, and burning down of buildings throughout the country. They burned down the telecommunication center, the central police station, electric power station and the main public hospital in Freetown. Telephone service to most homes in Freetown has been interrupted.
You can help the survivors of this crisis by the following:
1) Obtain detailed information (not covered in the News) of the atrocities the general population of Sierra Leone has been subjected to in recent years at the hands of guerillas.
2) Ask that the UN replace it's Observation Mission with a Peace Keeping Force. This may ensure that the crisis does not spread to other countries in the region. The UN ought to play a more reactive role in the crisis since Sierra Leone is an active, albeit small member of the UN.
3) Assist the International Red Cross, CARE and similar organizations in their activities at refugee camps in West Africa. Donations (in cash or kind) can be sent to: The American Red Cross, International Response Fund, P.O Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. 1800 4357 669 Checks must be marked SIERRA LEONE RELIEF FUND for your donations to be appropriately directed.
4) Support Sierra Leoneans seeking asylum in the U.S. [INS statistics show that only 20 Sierra Leoneans were granted asylum status, 51 denied during the period October 1, 1997 to September 30, 1998. In contrast, for Afghanistan 91 granted, 28 denied.]
5) Participate in an e-mail writing campaign to your Senator and House Representatives and other major political and humanitarian figures. A list of U.S. senators and house representatives can be found at http://www.senate.gov or at http://www.house.gov. For more information contact the NAH WE YONE hotline at 1-212-642-8267.
Thousands of U.S. citizens trace their roots directly to the shores of Sierra Leone. In addition, a number of Sierra Leoneans have contributed only positively to the U.S. as students and professionals. At this time please join concerned citizens of Sierra Leone to help end the crisis in West Africa. Any help you can give is appreciated.
Democracy threatened anywhere is democracy threatened everywhere.
Thank you very much for your time.
Sincerely,
Dinsie B. Williams